Last May, Alderman Craig Schmid (Ward 20) angered many business owners along Cherokee when he introduced legislation that would re-instate for thee years the liquor moratorium he first passed in the mid-1990s.Under that law, a bar or restaurant wanting to sell alcohol
must earn at least half its revenue from food. (Bar owners argue that
the equation is next to impossible to achieve.)

The bill passed
last week keeps the 50 percent quota for other areas in the ward
excluding Cherokee Street. Alderman Schmid tells me that he also wiped
from the bill provisions calling for business owners to provide
off-street parking and security cameras in order to receive a liquor
license.

"There is no legislation dealing with security, noise
or litter," says Schmid. "Hopefully anyone who opens an establishment
won't need that type of legislation. They'll be respectful of the area
and good neighbors."

Steve Smith, owner of the Royale Food
& Spirits on South Kingshighway, may be one of the first
entrepreneurs to open a new watering hole on the street. Smith owns a
building on Iowa and Cherokee and is working on financing to renovate
the building into a tavern.